New Zealand Seashore

11006-73001 Sand hopper or namu mawhitiwhiti (Bellorchestia quoyana) on red Delisea seaweed. Talitrid amphipods are extremely abundant on most shores and feed on beach-stranded kelps and seaweeds (particularly Macrocystus and Durvillea). Sandhoppers are in turn an important food for shorebirds - including Stewart Island kiwi, resulting in the transfer of energy across coastal ecotones. Allans Beach, Otago Peninsula *